


Trophy Room

by cryptaniac



Category: Merlin (TV) RPF
Genre: Humor, M/M, Public Sex, RPF
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-29
Updated: 2013-01-29
Packaged: 2017-11-27 10:50:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/661140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cryptaniac/pseuds/cryptaniac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>NTA 2013 - Colin is late for the National Television Awards, Bradley thinks about planes crashing over the Irish Sea and planning a porn film in a pub might lead to more than just a good laugh between mates.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trophy Room

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a prompt by the amazing [fregg](http://fregg.tumblr.com), because she wanted to know what happened after the National Television Awards 2013. It started out as a drabble and turned into this 4.000 word monster. 
> 
> **Disclaimer:** I mean no offence to Bradley James, Colin Morgan or any of the persons featured in this fanfic, this is a work of fiction and will hopefully never be read by either of them. ~~(Please note that English is not my first language so please feel free to point out any blatant mistakes in my use of grammar.)~~

He knew it had been a bad idea to stay in Dublin for a day longer. They hadn’t needed him for any scenes on Quirke anyway. But there was no use in considering this now; it was too late to change anything. The National Television Awards would start in about an hour and he was still waiting for his plane. The woman at the counter had only smiled at him apologetically before telling him that it would take at least 20 more minutes before he could get on the plane. That had been 25 minutes ago. Now he was still sitting in the waiting hall of the airport awkwardly fiddling around with the ink smudged paper in his hands. It was a list of people whom he wanted to thank in the off-chance that he was actually going to win. He was a tad too pessimistic to believe that he stood a chance next to Benedict Cumberbatch or Matt Smith. The Merlin fans were loyal and there were far more of them than he ever could have hoped for; but he just couldn’t bring himself to believe that his fanbase was bigger than that of Sherlock or Doctor bloody Who. Still, he had scribbled down the names of all the people who had supported him through the past five years, on a scrap of paper which was almost worn through from his constant touch. He considered calling Bradley, for a minute. Just to let him know that he wasn’t bailing out on them or hadn’t died in a terrible plane crash. The last idea made him almost giggle. His co-star of five years could be very dramatic when worrying about other people. It was one of the things he hid very well but Colin had managed to see through a long time ago. Just as he had scrolled down to Bradley’s name in his contacts though the call for his plane finally came and he pocketed his phone and grabbed his bag instead. It wouldn’t be too long now.

*

Bradley was worried. He was grinning and waving and he was worried. The last text Colin had sent him last night hadn’t sounded like he was not going to show up and he wasn’t usually the kind of person to make a dramatic last-minute entrance. He would occasionally show up late for script read-throughs or even the odd day of filming but not for something as big and public as an award’s show. He kept sending questioning glances at Eoin, Rupert and Alex but if they were thinking that anything was wrong they weren’t letting it on. Bradley closed his eyes for a moment and tried to concentrate. Planes from Dublin to London didn’t usually crash, did they? And couldn’t he just hear Colin laugh at him for even entertaining such a thought. He allowed himself a short, private smile and then went back to being the celebrity on a red carpet he was expected to be. Colin would be fine; maybe he was even already seated in their place, waiting for the rest of the cast to arrive.

He wasn’t there. In fact he wasn’t there for such a long time that a seat-filler showed up and took his place instead. Bradley nodded at them awkwardly and checked his phone for what must have been the tenth time in the last two minutes because Eoin leaned over Rupert to grin at him. “Dude, relax! Get that phone out one more time and people will start thinking that you have been stood up by a date,” he told him and leaned back to chuckle about it with Alex. Bradley glared at them and just hoped that neither of those two was tweeting about it. The last thing he needed was a bunch of fans cooing about him waiting for Colin like a love-sick puppy. He grumbled something inaudible about annoying ex-co-stars but pointedly resisted the urge to get his phone out again. The lights were going out and they would be live on air in a matter of seconds. Since he was still pretending that he didn’t need to check his phone or send messages to Colin to inquire about his whereabouts he just sat there and tried not to fiddle with his tie. Just five minutes after the host entered the stage he gave in and tucked at it anyway. He could see Eoin grinning at him like a mad-man from the corner of his eye. Colin was so going to pay for this. Maybe he would take a picture of him sleeping the next time he crashed in his flat and tweet it, so Merlin fans all across the globe could fuzz about him in front of their laptops. That thought managed to calm him down a bit and the mental image of a burning plane was almost forgotten.

*

The plane landed in Heathrow airport ten minutes after the National Television Awards went live on air. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he muttered to himself which earned him a glare from a woman who ushered her son, who couldn’t have been more than 5 years old, away from him. He blushed and muttered an apology, but didn’t have any time to dwell on it because he was already so very, very late.

He was glad that he had only packed hand luggage which meant he didn’t have to wait at the baggage claim and could go find his ride instead. It didn’t take him long to find his chauffeur. He was holding up a big sign with Colin’s name printed onto it - great. He could almost feel the stares and could see a group of girls giggling and pointing at him, probably trying to get their courage up to ask him for an autograph or a photo. He smiled at them awkwardly and hoped that it conveyed the fact that he was in no position to wait even for a minute. After five of the longest minutes of his life they finally made it out on the streets. The chauffeur, just call me Daniel mate, was going for some idle small talk but Colin wasn’t really in the mood to chat. He kept checking the clock on his phone while reading through the 6 text messages Bradley had sent him. Numerous variations of “Scared, Morgan?” or “Cooooooolin!??!” He grinned down at the brightly lit display and shook his head fondly. He already missed filming with this Idiot.

“You texting with your girlfriend there, mate?” the man asked him and flashed him a knowing smirk before thankfully settling his gaze back on the road. “Err no, just, err,” Colin spluttered and could feel his face go hot when he spotted the abandoned red carpet and was saved from actually having to answer the question. “Ah we’re here already. Thanks and have a nice evening,” he told the man and handed him his tip as well as the address of the place where he could drop off his bag. He practically ran down the red carpet and was out of breath when he arrived in the building. A couple of official looking people in matching shirts and equipped with small headsets were standing in one corner and he marched straight over to them. “Hello,” he smiled, “I’m Colin Morgan. I’m afraid I’m a bit late.” He looked at them expectantly but only received blank stares in return. Well this was embarrassing. “I’m with the Merlin cast?” he tried again; they still looked at him incomprehensively. “I’m nominated for two awards would you please just show me where I’m seated?!” That did the trick. They sprang into motion. “Colin Morgan, you say?” one of the women asked and checked his name on her iPad. “Ah yes, we have sent someone to occupy your seat until the third ad break. But you can just tell them that they are not needed anymore.” She explained slowly and pointed his seat out on a huge map of the hall’s interior. He couldn’t help but feel like a school boy who had just been told off for being late for class on his first day of school. After he had thanked them, they showed him the door to the hall and went back to ignoring him.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second before stepping into the mix of loud music, heat and glaring lights of the show. Some people looked up at him disapprovingly while he rushed through the rows as fast as was decent. When he finally spotted the back of Bradley’s head between the masses he let out a sigh of relief. At least he had managed to find them at first try. Coming up next to the seat-filler he tapped the man on his shoulder and told him that he could leave now. The guy just looked at him for a second and then shook his head. "I’m supposed to stay here until the third ad break;” he told him matter-of-factly and turned his gaze back to the stage. Colin couldn’t believe this was happening to him.

He was on the verge of trying to claim his seat again when he could hear Bradley’s chuckle. The man looked at him with a mix of exasperation and badly hidden fondness and Colin couldn’t help but grin back at him. He gestured at him with what could hopefully be read as “I know I am late but now this man is in my space and I am looking like even more of an idiot, just standing here. Help!” Bradley nodded understandingly, but instead of trying to talk sense into the man currently seated in Colin’s place, he shuffled over to make some space in the narrow seat he was currently sitting in and motioned for him to sit down. Colin looked at him blankly for a moment, but there was no use in arguing about it now. He shot his perfectly fine own seat one last longing look and sat down next to his former co-star. Rupert nodded at him smiling and he could see Eoin and Alex whispering at each other while grinning like the mad loons they were. He would never hear the end of this. Hopefully,  none of the cameras would actually catch him sitting next to Bradley with his thigh pressed against his and their feet touching. “I was already planning my dramatic speech for when I had to accept your award in your absence,” Bradley whispered at him and his nose was touching the tip of Colin’s ear for the split of a second while his warm breath ghosted over his skin. Colin pretended not to notice but shuffled around in the seat to give himself a bit more space, but he only ended up being pressed more tightly against the firm body of the other man and accidently brushing his hand against the soft fabric of his suit. “Yeah right, I bet you were making up some dramatic scenario about me crashing over the Irish Sea in that mad head of yours” he retorted rather belatedly and he could feel Bradley’s silent laughter against his whole body by the way he tugged at his tie and looked down onto his knees for a moment was enough to tell him that he was right. He poked him into his side and Rupert shot them a questioning look when Bradley bumped into him while trying to avoid Colin’s finger. Chastised they tried to be silent for a couple of minutes, while they applauded for the winner of the current category, mentally counting how many were left before the best actor was to be announced. Colin was trying to stop his heart from beating so fast. He wished he could pretend that it was only due to the excitement of the possibility of winning an award; and not because Bradley’s hand was resting lightly against his thigh because the other man didn’t think it necessary to retrieve it. His former co-star had always been rather open with physical contact but he usually made a point out of respecting Colin’s personal space; a fact, which he secretly regretted as much as he was grateful for it. Now though, now his body was pressed tightly against Colin’s and there was no way anyone could pretend that his hand was resting on his knee by anything other than design. “Are you still staying at my place during your time in London?” he asked and Colin couldn’t stop thinking about how it would only take mere inches for Bradley’s lips to touch his ear. The thought sent a spark of excitement through his stomach. “I already got my driver to drop my stuff off at your place,” he whispered back, his gaze still fixed on the stage but he could still feel Bradley grinning at him. Colin was about to add something when he heard the man beside him whisper: “You should be quiet, some people are trying to pay attention here,” he scolded them, which sent them into a fit of giggles, earning them a glare from the man. “Sorry,” Colin said, obviously not meaning it, but he tried to concentrate on the show again.

When the category of best actor was announced, the man had finally left, making room for Colin to move over to his own seat. The short clips to introduce the nominees had just started to play when Bradley started to hit him. He kept cuffing him lightly and when his scenes in Merlin were shown he actually cheered along with the crowd of fans in the back. “Oh god shut up,” Colin laughed but he couldn’t keep from smiling like a loon. “It’s going to be you, I know it!” Bradley said and kicked his foot. “Will you stop that,” was Colin’s quick reply but the names were about to be announced, so he couldn’t really bring himself to mind it much. “And the National Television Award goes to - Colin Morgan!” the presenter announced with feigned excitement. Colin couldn’t believe it. The only thing he registered was Bradley pulling him into a hug and slapping his chest, but he couldn’t even move to look at him or anyone of his co-stars because he was grinning so hard. He got up and walked straight up the stage to accept his awards and to thank the people on his list. And while he was sure that he had forgotten about at least one of them, he couldn’t spent much time worrying about is as he was ushered into another room where he was supposed to have his picture taken with the women whose name he still couldn’t remember and to answer some questions for the press. When he gingerly put his arm around the woman, there was a strange moment, in which he imagined what it would be like to do the same thing to Bradley.

*

When the four of them finally managed to get out of the hall and made their way to the after show party they were met with something resembling a cheap school prom. “Man and I didn’t even bring a date, let’s hope that they at least have something proper to drink,” Eoin announced just a few moments after entering the room and dragged Alex and Rupert with him over to the crowded bar. Colin and Bradley looked at each other nonplussed. “I think we were just given some ‘us time’,” Bradley finally said, when the three of them were out of hearing range. “I would ask you if you’re mad but this is Eoin Macken we’re talking about so I guess you might actually be right,” Colin agreed and grinned at his friend. They shared a moment of comfortable silence, shaking their heads over their rather eccentric mate. “So, Downtown Abbey again... Guess we just can’t win against costume-drama, right?” Colin started and Bradley looked up at him. He could see a flicker of disappointment in his eyes but he didn’t dwell on it. “No it doesn’t seem like we can. We did have some great costumes as well though. That dress you wore as Dolma was rather fetching,” he teased but added quickly afterwards “You did win the award for best actor though, so I wouldn’t call it much of a loss.”

Colin wasn’t sure what to answer to that. They hadn’t seen each other in about a month and even though they had always been a little bit more affectionate with each other than mates were probably supposed to be, this was definitely new. Bradley hadn’t made any hints like this in the numerous texts they’d exchanged over the course of the month. Nor had he mentioned anything during the few but oddly long phone calls or the countless e-mails with attachments of YouTube videos or pictures of dogs making funny faces, which Bradley was rather fond of. Hell they even tried to Skype one time before deciding that it was just weird to stare at each other like that. Being best mates with someone was one thing but this amount of contact? Probably not so much. He frowned slightly.

“Hey Colin, you still in there?” Bradley was waving his hand in front of his face and looked at him with a concerned expression. “Err, yeah. Yes I’m just, never mind. Thank you that’s a great thing of you to say,” he answered. The man shot him a confused look but thankfully didn’t press the matter any further. “No seriously Colin, I’m really proud of you. You really deserve this,” he added to his previous statement; and when did he get this close? Bradley’s right hand was resting on his shoulder and he looked like he wanted to tell him something else, something more important even. In this moment the rest of their group came back and he suddenly found himself with a pint of beer in his hand and several feet away from a certain blonde. He told himself that he was not regretting it.

*

Two hours later Colin was pissed. He couldn’t even remember when he had been this drunk for the last time. In fact he wasn’t absolutely sure if there had been a last time. Even the wrap up party of Merlin hadn’t been this bad. Of course it was Eoin’s fault. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why exactly it was Eoin’s fault but he was pretty sure it was anyway. There was a 60% chance that it was, not that he was actually still capable of basic math. He and the others were seated on a bench in a cozy pub. They had left the after party after the third interviewer had tried to talk to them about how Merlin didn’t get the award and Bradley had almost hit him for dwelling on that fact while he could have perfectly well talked about how Colin _had_ won.

Colin had given him a hug for that while Rupert had dragged both of them away from the confused man. The pub was crowded with people and nobody seemed to recognize them, which was just as well. He didn’t even want to think about what the tabloids would make out of five former actors of a show for _younger audiences_ , sitting piss-drunk in a pub and talking about plans to make a porn film.

“’ thing is just, the thing is that you need women for a porno and you are not a woman Bradley,” Eoin said very seriously and Colin thought that this made perfect sense. Bradley didn’t seem to think so. “No, no, no. I could pretend to be a woman. I would be the star and I would get Colin’s award, right Cols’?” he said rather vehemently. Again, Colin agreed. He nodded and Bradley gave him another hug, well it was less of a hug than a short tightening of his grip because his arm had somehow ended up on Colin’s shoulder along with his head and mop of dirty blond hair, but it was good enough for Colin. He patted him tenderly and told him that he could get his award if he pretended to be a woman.

“Couldn’t you just make a gay porn film if you don’t want to hire other actors?” Rupert asked, either because he was the most sensible of the five men or the least drunk of them; possibly both. “Colin should get to decide. Because he got the award,” Bradley interjected and proved once again that he had still not managed to shut up about that fact. Colin patted him and smiled happily. Everything was warm and shiny and he would make a porn film with Bradley as the girl. “Yes,” he said and even though nobody seemed to understand what he was on about they all nodded in agreement. He paused before adding, “We should start right away,” before getting up. Once again everybody nodded, but Bradley seemed to be the only one who actually understood him. Being the great friend he was, he followed him without question. Bless his soul.

The door of the narrow booth in the men’s room crashed shut as their lips met - hard. Bradley tasted like beer and salted peanuts and it should have been disgusting but Colin couldn’t get enough of it. They moved against each other perfectly and were panting into each other’s mouths as they started grabbing at each other. “I thought- ah, you’d never notice,” Bradley said between gasps and started kissing Colin’s neck a bit too enthusiastically. “Notice- ah yes do that again, what?” he managed to get out and shoved one hand into Bradley’s blond hair to keep his face pressed against his neck. “That I was flirting with you – you idiot,” came the muffled response and Colin threw his head back when he could feel teeth biting down lightly into his sensitive skin. “Why- why now?” he asked as he closed his eyes and started dry humping the other man’s knee. “Less talking,” was all he got for an answer and when Bradley grabbed his half-hard cock through his pants and he couldn’t even remember what day it was anymore, he figured he didn’t really need one anyway.

Unfocused hands pulled at his suit’s zipper and they managed to rip out the button of his trousers before prying it open. Colin thought about complaining but he could already feel the calloused hand stroking him steadily, smearing pre-cum over the tip of his penis, so nobody could hold it against him when all he could do was to let out a small gasp and rut into it unashamedly. “Yes, oh god Bradley, just like this,” he gasped into the other man’s shoulder and he wasn’t sure if his legs could support him any longer but he couldn’t get himself to care. Bradley’s grip grew frenzied and he found Colin’s lips again, kissing him wetly and too rushed but making him love it nonetheless. He could feel his orgasm build up in his belly, the muscles in his thighs tightening. Then he came with a low grunt and spent himself in Bradley’s hand and on both of their suits, before collapsing against the dirty wall behind him. They panted into each other’s mouths and Bradley’s obvious erection was poking him into his left thigh, when suddenly the door swung open and immediately shut again.

“Bloody hell, I didn’t think you were practicing already! I’m sorry,” Eoin shouted through the door not sounding sorry at all. Bradley and Colin looked at each other and collapsed into a fit of helpless giggles. “Learn how to knock Macken!” Colin shouted back at him. “Learn how to fuck behind closed doors you idiots,” he shot back and they could almost hear the dirty grin in his voice.

*

Later when they lay in Bradley’s bed, sprawled all over each other, fully dressed and too tired to do anything about it, he suddenly remembered something. He leaned over to retrieve his phone from where it had fallen out of his suit a few minutes earlier. “Are you crazy? Put that thing away and go to sleep James,” Colin muttered and kicked at him with all the strength he could muster which wasn’t very much at all. “Shut up Morgan,” he replied and continued to type before hitting the post button and throwing the phone onto his nightstand. _“Don't know if it was obvious by the way I kept hitting him, but was and still am, beaming with pride for NTA 'Best Actor' Colin Morgan,”_ the tweet read. Proofing that he still couldn’t shut up about it.

The End

 

* * *

 

[ ](http://ahhleeintheimpala.deviantart.com/art/Post-NTA-Brolin-351333163?ga_submit_new=10%253A1359498404)

**Author's Note:**

>   
> [fregg ](http://fregg.tumblr.com)was awesome enough to illustrate the pwp scene! You can find it [here](http://ahhleeintheimpala.deviantart.com/art/Post-NTA-Brolin-351333163?ga_submit_new=10%253A1359498404), if you like it, you should leave her some feedback!
> 
> edit (3.2.13): She also illustrated the scene when they get caught by Eoin. You should check it out, [here](http://ahhleeintheimpala.deviantart.com/art/Trophy-Room-Post-NTA-2-352272025?ga_submit_new=10%253A1359925845&ga_type=edit&ga_changes=1&ga_recent=1)!


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